At EDO, we help the industry know what works in TV advertising. This philosophy applies to our own business, including how we think about the future.
At the end of each year, we make predictions for our industry in the year ahead — but we don’t just leave it at that. We also review our past year’s predictions to reflect on what we got right and wrong.
Here’s a look at how we fared in our five predictions for 2026. More insight on each prediction below:
- The Easy Button creates a stronger, more democratized ad ecosystem 🤔
- AI interfaces and zero-click searches will be the death of traditional attribution 💯
- A reckoning is coming for audience targeting data 🤔
- Live sports advertising gets dynamic 💯
- Mid-funnel measurement bridges what’s left of the gap between social, retail, and TV media 💯
2026 Prediction # 1: The Easy Button creates a stronger, more democratized ad ecosystem
VERDICT: Nailed it on the Easy Button's dominance; democratization remains a work in progress. (When is it not?!)
For 2026, we predicted that the rise of AI would bring Google- and Meta-esque outcome-optimized ad-buying to TV. We called this trend “The Easy Button” because advertisers just have to select their target audience, outcome, and budget — and the platforms optimize for their chosen goals on their own.
It’s true that a growing number of advertisers used AI and programmatic to make smarter, faster buys. But we also predicted that this trend would democratize the TV landscape by allowing a longer tail of brands to participate — and the jury is still out on this part, though Walmart and Pinterest certainly are betting on the trend with their M&A dollars.
Some advertising platforms that enable continuous outcomes optimization act as walled cities built on integrated stacks of identity and outcome data. As I theorized in June, there is still room for a neutral party that connects these cities and allows them to align on fair value for media — a modern-day Venice, if you will.
2026 Prediction # 2: AI interfaces and zero-click searches will be the death of traditional attribution
VERDICT: Nailed it.
Conventional pixel-to-pixel measurement frameworks are more obsolete than cassette tapes, thanks to AI and zero-click search.
Our research found that link clicks from Google searches fell 22%, but search isn’t dead. Google searches per household are actually up 17%, and AI search is up 202%. What's happening is that website impressions are depreciating and, like the penny, reach is becoming an out-of-date currency.
If you're all about the Benjamins, you should be all about the consumer query, an indestructible signal of consideration and intent.
2026 Prediction # 3: A reckoning is coming for audience targeting data
VERDICT: Try again later.
We predicted that audience data products would face significant pricing pressure, if not full commoditization, but it's pretty murky out there.
Part of the issue is that audience data accuracy is getting harder to confirm and take action on (see Apple’s latest Safari ad restrictions as an example). The Publicis acquisition of LiveRamp throws more doubt into the mix. Savvy marketers are getting ahead of these shifts by targeting actionable consumer behaviors instead.
2026 Prediction # 4: Live sports advertising gets dynamic
VERDICT: Signs point to yes.
We predicted more dynamic ad insertion for live sports, and this one seems like it's coming true — if slowly.
NBCUniversal sold out its Milan Cortina digital ad inventory by making it the “Programmatic Olympics” and also added digital ad insertion to its Spanish-Language World Cup coverage.
2026 Prediction # 5: Mid-funnel measurement bridges what’s left of the gap between social, retail, and TV media
VERDICT: Nailed it.
Closing on a high note, AI-powered optimization is absolutely unifying the ad buying experience across social, retail, and TV media. With a growing need for a common measurement framework, more and more of our industry adopted mid-funnel outcomes in 2026.
Outcomes were the talk of the 2026 Upfronts, as our industry continues to coalesce around genuine consumer engagement behaviors as our fastest, most actionable predictors of future sales.
One twist here that we didn’t catch – gaming, notably the immersive world of Roblox Ads, should have been included in our list of the media that EDO’s uniquely powerful mid-funnel measurement helps marketers understand. We piloted our first campaign measurement with Roblox Ads in Q1 of this year and announced our full partnership at Cannes just months later. Definitely watch this space for more.
Stay tuned for 2027 predictions
In addition to helping clients know what works in TV advertising, we’re dedicated to helping our industry optimize their media strategy and performance.
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